A native of Okayama Prefecture and graduate of the University of Tokyo, he joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1979, attending the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University in the United States while in the ministry.

Leaving the government in 1998, he ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives in 2000 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

On August 7, 2013, he was demoted from the secretary-general by party leader Yoshimi Watanabe due to disagreements in political policies.

[2] He stated that his goal was to "change Japan by abolishing bureaucracy-led politics, fighting vested interests and breaking the centralization of power."

[1] He expressed interest in possibly running in the 2024 CDP leadership election against incumbent party leader Kenta Izumi.